Helping navigate life’s challenges.
Our life journey is rarely straightforward – it often comes with twists and turns; ups and downs. I offer a wellness counselling service which is tailored for you as an individual, or couple, to meet your needs and go at your pace. I consult in-person at my practice in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town and online via Zoom.
Please feel free to contact me for a free 15-minute online consultation.
“Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain, forever a barrier to the growth and development of the spirit.” – M. Scott Peck
As a wellness specialist, I offer a safe environment that provides support and confidentiality. Effective and convenient therapeutic help is available online when in-person consultation is not an option. In such a fast-paced life, it is good to know that counselling services are available to you wherever you are.
Counselling services are R600.00 per 55-minute consultation, with a range of daytime and evening appointments available.
Please note that this is a cash practice. I do not work with medical aid schemes as I do not offer a medical service, but rather one that serves to enhance overall emotional wellbeing and quality of life.
INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING
Individual counselling can help you understand the roots of distress or issues in daily life. I offer a safe space to explore your thoughts and feelings. It is an encouraging space of support as your story unfolds and you work through your difficulties, process life events, make sense of your past and its impact on you.
“A person is a fluid process, not a fixed and static entity; a flowing river of change, not a block of solid material; a continually changing constellation of potentialities, not a fixed quantity of traits.” – Carl Rogers
COUPLES COUNSELLING
A strong connection with your partner can be immensely rewarding. Essentially, couples are capable of forming a deep understanding of each other and can enjoy a warm and supportive home environment. However, each couple experiences their own set of challenges and difficulties, which may cause considerable distress. During couple counselling, I focus on recurring themes; differences; emotional sensitivities; external circumstances and patterns of interaction. With helpful strategies and effective communication, couples can work together to negotiate problems in a constructive way.
“How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things, but how well we understand.” – Andrew Grove.
EMOTIONAL STRUGGLES
Counselling is a helpful resource for dealing with a range of issues that can negatively impact your life – persistent worries, difficult emotions and powerful feelings. Difficult emotions can be painful to feel and express and can be a heavy weight to bear alone. But these emotions gives you valuable information about what you care about and how you want to be treated. Counselling is a helpful way to sort through challenging emotions, even if your problems seem endless.
“Your emotions make you human. Even the unpleasant ones have a purpose. Don’t lock them away. If you ignore them, they just get angrier and louder.” – Sabaa Tahir
SELF-ESTEEM AND CONFIDENCE
How do you think of yourself? Do you see yourself for all of the good qualities you hold, or are you filled with self-doubt and self-criticism. Your experiences growing up can greatly affect how you see yourself now, and your self-esteem significantly affects how you live your life. Through counselling sessions, I can help you identify and confront your core beliefs – how you feel about yourself deep down – and the demanding standards for living that you may have set yourself to cope. Importantly, we can explore what keeps the negative beliefs you have about yourself going.
“I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time.” – Anna Freud
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Counselling is not only for times of crisis. Counselling can also offer you the time and space to explore the things that really matter to you; time and space to readjust your direction, if the way you are going is no longer bringing you meaning.
“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.” – Carl Rogers
LIFE TRANSITIONS
Change is part of life, whether an inevitable life transition or a sudden and unexpected event. Either way, change can be hugely unsettling. You don’t have to face it alone. Support from a counsellor can help you gain perspective while making important decisions, as well as realize your own unique strengths and resources. Counselling can help you move forward and avoid becoming stuck.
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” – Mary Shelley
Hello! I’m Hayley
My training is broad and varied. I first studied Fine Art and spent many years teaching visual art to high school learners. Whilst teaching, I became acutely aware of the emotional struggles of these teenagers, their families, as well as those of the staff. My focus changed, and I went back to university to study psychology. During this time, I became involved with LifeLine, Western Cape, as both a counsellor and facilitator. I now run a private counselling practice in the northern suburbs of Cape Town.
My qualifications are BA-Psychology (Hons); BA-Psychology and English; ND-Fine Arts. I am registered with the ASCHP (ID984), a SAQA recognized professional body, and work within a defined scope of practice. (ASCHP reg. no. SWC22/1298).
My approach:
I believe that living a satisfying life is more than just feeling okay, or not ill. If you think of your mental health as a continuum from well to unwell, then the importance of having a healthy frame of mind becomes evident in managing everyday life to its fullest possibility. I use an integrative counselling approach and draw predominantly from CBT, DBT and ACT techniques. As the process of understanding yourself and how you connect within your world is fundamental to wellbeing, my approach focuses on a deep exploration of clients’ experiences and the meanings of those experiences.
Although many issues that may seem unique to clients are often commonly experienced, each client, themself, is unique, and each client’s needs are different. With this in mind, I offer a counselling service which is tailored for each individual, or couple, to meet each unique need and to go at a pace that suits you. My counselling practice is grounded in unconditional acceptance and non-judgement, and I value respect and integrity – all of which fosters a therapeutic environment of warmth, understanding and confidentiality.
“Psychological health is not merely the absence of symptoms; it is the positive presence of inner capacities and resources that allow people to live with a greater sense of freedom and possibility.”
– Blass and Auerbach
Getting Started Is Easy
Step 1
Simply complete the contact form
Step 2
Schedule your appointment
Step 3
Meet up for your consultation
